1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a photographic printing apparatus and to an automatic cutter which cuts photographic paper printed by the photographic printing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
When images recorded on a photographic film are printed on a photographic paper 200, illustrated in FIG. 7, in a photographic film apparatus, one type of circular hole 202 is provided in a margin portion 206 between an image frame 204 and another image frame 204. Accordingly, after all of the image frames have been printed on the photographic paper 200, the circular holes 202 are punched in the photographic paper 200 at intervals L3 along the longitudinal direction thereof.
When each image frame 204 is cut at an automatic cutter which cuts the roll of photographic paper 200 which has been printed and developed at the photographic printing apparatus, the circular hole 202 is detected by a detector. After the circular hole 202 is detected, the photographic paper 200 is conveyed a fixed distance. Thereafter, the photographic paper 200 is cut. However, in order to eliminate mistakes in cutting due to mistakes in the recording of the circular holes 202 and errors in the actions of the detector, the range over which the detector is effective is limited. Namely, when the circular hole 202 is detected, the detecting function of the detector is limited for an interval of time over which the photographic paper 200 is conveyed the fixed distance. In this way, errors in cutting due to noise or the like occurring when the printed frame, which is a space in which the circular holes 202 are not formed, is being transported can be eliminated from the start. Further, when the circular hole 202 is not detected in the time the photographic paper 200 is conveyed the fixed distance after the range in which the detection of the detector is limited and the detection function is resumed, operation is stopped due to abnormal detection, and an alarm is sounded. The fixed distances are set under the premise that the sizes of the image frames printed on a rolled paper are uniform.
However, it is not assumed that image frames 204, 210 of two types of print sizes having different aspect ratios, as illustrated in FIG. 8, are included on the same roll and are printed onto the photographic paper 200 at the above-described photographic printing apparatus. Regardless of the print size, a single type of the circular hole 202 is formed in the margin portions 206.
Namely, when the image frames 204, 210 having different print sizes are printed onto the same roll of the photographic paper 200 by the photographic printing apparatus, a single type of the circular hole 202 is formed at different intervals L3 and L4.
As a result, problems arise when the photographic paper 200 is conveyed in the direction of arrow A (to the right in FIG. 8) and is cut by the conventional automatic cutter based on the detection of the circular hole 202. Namely, after the rightmost circular hole 202 is detected, the circular hole 202 is not detected at a position 212 where it should be detected next. In this case, it is unclear if the circular hole 202 has not been detected due to either an error in the recording of the circular hole 202 or due to the image area of the image frame 210, whose length in the longitudinal direction of the photographic paper 200 is long, being a detected position and the position 212 being an image area. Accordingly, the photographic paper 200, on which image frames of different print sizes are included, cannot be cut into image frames of each print size.